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“The conflict is not here.” An interview with Joseph Milan on how Middle Eastern conflict affects his outreach to Syrians and Lebanese alike.
November 12, 2024
Our goals:
- Promoting peace
- Providing opportunity
- Countering extremism
Joseph Milan is the co-founder of Warm Heart School, a mobile school for Syrian refugees operating from a cargo truck in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. TSI donors funded this school in 2022 and continue to support its operations today. TSI interviewed Joseph in September on the effects of the Middle Eastern conflict on Warm Heart’s work.
Shortly after this interview, Israel attacked Lebanon, including southern Bekaa Valley, targeting Hezbollah operatives. Now, the conflict is there. Up to one million people may be currently displaced and hundreds killed, injured, or missing. Joseph’s family, his team, and the Syrian families they serve remain safe.
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Q: Let’s start with a question we always ask. What gives you the greatest joy in your work right now?
A: My most important joy every week is showing the children Jesus’ love and offering them the message of salvation. We may not live long. I ask them, “Do you want to [talk about] this now or later?” “We should do it now,” they say.
They’re hearing the bombs outside, then they come to our truck and it’s like heaven for them. They feel safe and peaceful and free in that space. They hug my whole family. We’re getting more bonded to them because of this conflict. There are no more barriers between us, and it’s touching. Sharing as we do in the classrooms and through this Warm Heart ministry, we can go deeper with the Syrians than we can within the church.
Q: What can you share with us about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon? How is this affecting your work in Bekaa Valley?
A: We are affected, but there is some peace in Christian areas of Lebanon. But, there has been a change in lifestyle for us, and security is a problem. It is similar in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. Politics are affecting people and the nation…22 civil defense soldiers were killed here recently.
Bekaa Valley is affected by all of this. We’re still doing ministry there, but you hear the conflict. People there are scared. Planes fly over and there are sonic booms. I was shaken by this as it happened suddenly over top of me.
Children were crying after that. We say to them, “It’s okay, the conflict is not here.” But we feel for the children in Gaza. It may be okay for the fighters to experience some of these things, but the women and children are not okay. I don’t know what good they think the fighting will do.
A billionaire dies in his yacht and that’s in the news*, but [why does that matter more?] You take nothing with you when you die. The Lord is the only solution, the only hope for our suffering. We should love each other as nations, religions, and tribes. Killing will not solve the problem.
Q: What is the greatest challenge in your work today?
A: What’s challenging is fighting our [Lebanese] government. They don’t want us to help Syrians anymore. There are not enough resources for everyone. I use the church, our Warm Heart organization, whatever I can to help the Syrians. We’re tired though. I help the Lebanese too, but I tell government officials, if you don’t feed the Syrians, they will steal what they need.
Another problem is early marriage for Syrian girls [due to the belief that marriage provides stability]. I’m telling their mothers, don’t give them away in marriage. They end up divorced a month later. I see it happen over and over.
Q: How many students are you serving now? Has this changed since the conflict began?
A: We have 200 kids in Beirut for our events there, and nearly 100 in Bekaa Valley in four different classes delivered by the mobile school. We have 350 total if you if you include all of our events for children, both Lebanese and Syrian.
Warm Heart Lebanon is also training Lebanese people in first aid, fire prevention, and self-defense in Lebanese villages. Our government is in a coma and is not offering these services that people need in the face of conflict. •
For more, watch a brief report from the hills surrounding Beirut, sent to us by Warm Heart co-founder Saeed Milan.
Year-end 2024’s Not Forgotten campaign will deliver safe schools to displaced children in Lebanon. Join us by giving today!
Warm Heart School in Lebanon
"We should love each other as nations, religions, and tribes. Killing will not solve the problem."
- Joseph Milan
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